Often referred to as one of life’s most important events, weddings are a big deal everywhere. It’s all about the excitement of finally committing to that one person you’ve always dreamt of spending your life with as well as having to share that special moment with family, closest friends, and well-wishers.
However, as the countdown draws closer, this excitement quickly changes to extreme nervousness, which, although perfectly normal, sometimes disrupts the level of planning. According to John Weirick, ”Emotions tend to drive our decisions, good or bad, whether or not we acknowledge them”. Making important decisions under the pressure of emotions, be it excitement, anger or nervousness is never ideal.
At the tail end of every wedding planning, regardless of these emotions, decisions need to be made. Final preparations and confirmations have to be done to ensure a perfect and smooth sailing celebration, but how exactly do you make the correct choices without feeling overwhelmed?
The most efficient decision process under these circumstances is a checklist. Running through a list of things to do would surely make for an easier decision-making process, and to this end, we have put one together to make sure every final detail is perfectly taken care of for your big day.
Pick Up Your Marriage License
While the ceremony might be the best and most memorable part of a wedding, picking up your marriage license is arguably the most important. This document makes your marriage legal and must be acquired if you intend to change your name. Once obtained, it can be signed by the couple, an officiant, and two witnesses during the ceremony and returned by the officiant for a marriage certificate.
Some marriage licenses have an expiration date or a deadline at which they could be returned, often between 60 – 90 days from the day it was collected, hence, picking one up very early might not be the best idea. It’s also necessary to confirm all legal requirements are met based on the marriage laws of your state.
Check Out Your Full Look Again
People physically go through stress in different ways, some lose weight, while others, funny as it sounds, gain a couple of pounds from stress eating. That’s why it’s necessary to check out your full look in a dress rehearsal to confirm they are still a perfect fit for the perfect day.
See if your dress needs any new adjustments and try out the pieces of jewelry to see which fits. Breaking into your shoes is also very important since you’ll be wearing them for a significant amount of time. Try wearing it around the room for some time to see if it’s completely comfortable.
While doing all these, it’s necessary to get a second opinion on everything. What you want isn’t always what’s best.
Get Final Headcount And Organise Seating Arrangements
At this point, it’s time to have an idea of how many guests are expected to show up. Count the confirmed guests that replied to an RSVP, and call or send out emails to those that haven’t sent back their response card. When the final headcount is done, run that number through with the vendor before the wedding. This gives them a number to work with when finishing your order.
Seating arrangements have also become the norm in wedding ceremonies and dinners since it generally makes organization easier. Converse with your spouse-to-be and decide the seating arrangements. Finalize guest seating combinations and tag tables appropriately.
Practice Vows
It’s never a good idea to write your vows a few hours before your wedding or leave it last minute before going through them. At this time, it’s assumed your wedding vows are ready, thus, the next step is practicing them. Practicing your vows is sure going to make you more confident and calmer.
Read them to yourself out loud a few times if you intend to memorize them. It’s still advisable to practice your vows even if you intend to read them from a paper. People often feel much more comfortable saying the vows on their wedding day and are rarely caught unaware by emotions when they are familiar with the vows.
Beauty Treatment
The weeks leading to your wedding shouldn’t be the time to try new beauty routines. Simplicity is the priority when it comes to bridal beauty treatments to avoid experiencing bad reactions so close to your big day. Having your makeup and hairstylist booked is essential to get things done on time. Each stylist should also be made aware of the timeline for engagements.
Routines like waxing, facials, hair and eyelash extensions, and other large area treatments should be done at least a week before the occasion. This gives you time to adjust to a new addition. Other basic routines like manicures and pedicures can be done few days before the wedding as they carry less risk of bad reactions.
For grooms, a haircut and shave can be done in the week leading to the wedding.
Read more about our bridal makeup and book an appointment now.
Send Shot List To Photographer
Pictures are a major part of any celebration. They capture the unfiltered joy in every moment of the celebration. Hence, organization should be included in this aspect as well to ensure every guest present is involved as much as possible.
According to Keith Phillips of Classic Photographers, “There are going to be obvious guests that you want to be captured- such as the wedding party and grandparents, but you may have your college roommates all in attendance, and that’s something he or she won’t be privy to.
You should send a list of important snaps the photographer is meant to capture on your big day. The list could be formed based on the list of guests to be present.
We offer the best for your wedding photography.
Check With Vendors
Last-minute disappointment from vendors could ruin your big day, and for something with such massive implications, it could be avoided with something as small as a text or an email. Check on vendors to confirm everything needed for the day is available, go over what they need to bring for the ceremony and what they need to do, run any change in the number of guests through them and sort out payments and tips.
These days, most people rather employ the services of wedding planners. In this case, tasks can be delegated to him/ her for a much more organized event.
Timing is everything, hence, planning should be done to perfection. Confirming details like when the photographer gets to the venue, when the cake arrives or when you need to get ready for your makeup all add up to a successful and perfect celebration.
Make A List
You must have noticed the word “organization” has been used predominantly. This is because the success of your wedding ceremony would always track back to how organized the planning was. To ensure you keep track of all the items you have to take to the venue, a list is very necessary.
A couple of things you would want to add to this list are:
- Emergency bag: Packing a bag that has all possible tools for an emergency is a necessity. These tools include combs, makeup, hairspray, deodorant, safety pins, mirrors, mouthwash among others. Organizing what should be in your emergency bag depends solely on what you consider an emergency.
- The rings
- Wedding attires
- Final payment for vendors
- Possible vote of thanks
- Gifts
It’s also advisable to get help or a second set of eyes when checking off items on the list to avoid forgetting anything.
Prepare Souvenirs And Welcome Bags
It goes a long way to appreciating guests for sharing this special moment with you. One of the best ways of achieving this is by sharing souvenirs, welcome bags, and gift bags. Firstly, out-of-town guests could be treated to welcome bags delivered to their hotel rooms. These bags could contain candy and goodies, postcards, local snacks.
Souvenirs are shared during the wedding celebration to serve as a token of remembrance or memories associated with the celebration. Finally, treating your bridesmaid or groomsmen to gift bags goes a long way to showing appreciation. These bags should contain adorable gifts bought to thank them for all their hard work.
In giving out any of these gifts, be sure to wrap them up neatly and attach a nice, personalized note to each.
Check The Weather Forecast
Some factors are just above our control, one of which is the weather condition. However, effective planning could be done to ensure your occasion is not affected by it. Checking the weather forecast should be done either before setting a date or before selecting a venue.
In selecting an outdoor venue, employing different weather applications to check the day’s forecast is very essential. If there’s any chance of rain in the forecast, then a contingency plan would have to be made. This could either be changing to a more suitable venue or moving your event to a day with more occasion-friendly weather.
Assign A Wedding Help
This is often reserved for a family member or very close friend. The wedding help is almost always at the bride’s beck and calls looking to help in any way possible. Firstly, they are in charge of grabbing any wedding gifts brought by guests and stashing them somewhere private. They also assist in sharing souvenirs and gift bags to guests.
Finally, the wedding help does a final sweep of the venue after the celebration to ensure nothing important was misplaced or left unattended. There are so many things you would want to get done, but might be too busy to do them yourself. Assigning someone responsible carries out all these tasks and ensures to the best of their capabilities that everything goes on smoothly.
Organize And Confirm Honeymoon Plans
The honeymoon comes up almost immediately after the actual wedding ceremony, which gives little to no time to organize honeymoon plans after the ceremony. Check up on plans for your honeymoon, including flight times and tickets, hotel and dinner reservations, sightseeing, and every other activity planned.
Also, don’t wait last minute before packing for your honeymoon, there’s a lot to be done and it’s better to do them in advance. Review all honeymoon items and check for relevant documents including flight tickets, passports, and identification cards.
Make Outstanding Plans
No matter how much planning is put into an event, there are always unplanned changes or challenges. For a wedding, this could come in the form of extra guests not having a place in the seating chart or the officiant not responding as quickly as necessary. Carrying out a necessary rundown of the proposed entire wedding celebration is necessary for identifying these changes and making contingency plans to take care of anything that hasn’t been completely finalized.
Handling all these could make you feel overwhelmed. In this case, hiring an event planner is the best course of action. They take up some of the work and run every step through you making sure it is to your taste.
Chill
Most people complain about being so gassed out on their wedding day they hardly enjoy it. Although, it is natural to feel there’s still a lot left undone at the tail end of the wedding planning, it’s necessary to take a step back and relax. Overworking yourself before the big day is always a bad idea.
You need to look your best on your wedding day. Trust you have done enough planning for a successful event and take try taking your mind away from any form of worry. Go to the spa, get a massage, see a movie, anything that makes you relax should be of utmost priority to feel fresh and rejuvenated on your big day.
Conclusion
Planning a big event like your wedding is no easy feat, so it’s always important to be proactive with your planning. Organize everything such that the final days before the wedding is free for doublechecking and confirmations.
For a successful day, avoid procrastination and follow our checklist to the latter. Also, don’t hesitate to add to the checklist as soon as you remember what should be on it.
